WHILE climate change, poor storage capacity, transmission losses and inefficient irrigation methods are blamed for increasing water shortages in the country, the unabated trend of sowing water-guzzling crops like sugar cane and rice only compounds the water scarcity problem.

This coupled with the use of decades-old uncertified seed that have lost their productivity and resistance to diseases, and the improper use of fertilisers, has lead to a gradual decline in various crop yields.

The trend of sowing traditional cash crops, ie wheat, sugarcane, rice and cotton, has not withered away though the growth potential for most major crops has been exhausted to the disadvantage of the farming community and the national economy.

Experts and progressive farmers caution that the sector is set to suffer even more if remedial measures, such as introducing efficient irrigation methods and changing crop patterns, are not taken at the earliest.

‘Crop diversification is very important for the sector. We need to grow locally what we are importing to ensure our food security and protect the farmer from financial losses’

Quoting a report of the provincial government, experts say Punjab is currently reaping the lowest crop yield in the region and the world. The province needs to take urgent steps to fix the situation and turn around a sector that is the backbone of the national economy.

“We’re over-sowing sugar cane and wheat which leads to a glut in the market and of course lower prices for farmers. These crops enjoy no real value in the changing global food scenario,” says Malik Afaq Tiwana of the Farmers Association of Pakistan (FAP), a body that represents big landholders.

“Crop diversification is very important for the sector. We need to grow locally what we are importing to ensure our food security and protect farmers from financial loss,” he opines.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial endorses the need for crop diversification and emphasises that the government is not oblivious to the fact: “Oilseed crops are on top of our priority list, though the major traditional cash crops cannot be ignored altogether.”

He says that a five-year plan has been devised to cut wheat acreage, dedicating the land thus spared to growing oilseed crops like canola and soybean. This will help reduce the over Rs250 billion edible oil import bill.

To encourage oilseed sowing, growers of the districts being earmarked for the purpose are being offered Rs5,000 per acre subsidy which will be increased to Rs7,000 per acre in the next financial year.

Mr Tiwana believes that a subsidy alone is not a sufficient incentive to make farmers abandon the crops they had been sowing for centuries: “The growers can work wonders provided they are offered the guarantee that their entire yield will be procured at reasonable rates, either by the public or private sector. They made the wheat-scarce country self-sufficient in the crop in just one season when given such a guarantee.”

Referring to the woes of potato growers for want of a reliable market, the FAP leader said that if they earned Rs500,000 per acre in one season, in the next their earnings dropped to such an extent that they were unable to meet the charges for transporting their produce to the market.

Admitting that in the absence of official patronage farmers will remain reluctant to embrace non-traditional crops, the minister claims that oilseed crops will enjoy a steady market as the initiative has been taken only after taking farmers and solvent industry bodies on board: “Marketing of oilseed crops will be no problem as we are guaranteeing that the government will procure the entire yield if no one else comes to the fore.”

Tajammal Hussain Nisar, a progressive farmer who runs a model farm in the vicinity of the Punjab capital points out that besides a stable market, growers also require capacity building and training in post-harvest grading, packing etc, to make the initiative a success.

He also calls for levying a heavy duty on the import of palm oil, or at least ensuring that no substandard edible oil is imported by the industry to the loss of local farmers.

A senior agriculture official endorses the view saying better investment in the agro-processing and value-added sectors, including fruits and vegetables, is required for exports to high-end international markets.

“Establishment of processing units for pulp, puree, paste, concentrates, dehydration and oil extraction, both edible and essential, is needed along with suitable storage, packaging and transportation facilities to make horticulture realise its full potential,” he said.

He recalls the cases of kinnow and mango exports which grew manifold with the development of these facilities.

“Punjab’s agriculture will benefit from CPEC connectivity and the export of value-added agriculture products will increase through a robust processing sector,” concludes the official.

The minister responds that they are also planning the promotion of value chain industry by offering it certain incentives such as matching grants: “To support and encourage business entities to set up food processing units, they will be offered 50 per cent matching grants through a competitive process so that they may implement commercial activities and ensure markets operate effectively in the province.”

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, February 25th, 2019